Embroidery-frame.



H. A. AUSTIN. EMBROIDERY FRAME.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6. 1918.

1,1 20,357. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

HERBERT AURELIUS AUSTIN, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO AUSTIN.-

WALKER SALES COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

EMBROIDERY-FRAME.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT AURELIUS AUSTIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the cityof Boston, county of Suffolk, andCommonwealth of lvlassachw setts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Embroidery-Frames, set forth in thefollowing.specification.

My invention relates toimprovements in embroidery frames for holdingfabric while being worked upon and more particularly to embroideryframescomprising a pair of hoops, one of which may beexpanded orcontracted, as the case may be, to cause the outer hoop to envelop theinner hoop and the fabric, thereby to clamp the work therebetween. Incarrying out this invention, it is preferredto provide the necessaryadjustment by splitting the inner hoop and making it expansible to clampthe work.

It is, therefore, an obj eet of this invention to provide a simple yetreadily manipulated expanding means or adjustment.

A further object is to provide practical means for causing the limitedrelative move ment of the ends of said split hoop to provide for thedesired adjustment, but which will effectually prevent the said endsfrom becoming widely separated or out of ahnement.

Another object is to make possible the manipulation of their adjustmentwith quickness and despatch.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawings wherein are shown one of the possibleembodiments of my invention,Figure 1 is a sectional view of a pair ofembroidery hoops, the inner one of which is provided with expandingmeans, made in accordance with this invention,-Fig. 2 is an inside Viewof a portion of the hoop and expanding means.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings and specifications.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 desig Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed January 6, 1913. Serial No.740,445.

ment 6, secured adjacent the other end of said hoop in a manner similarto the said member 3. The inner end of the abutment member 6 is extendedbeyond the aperture ,5 and is slightly curved, asat 7, for a purpose tobe hereinafter described. A knurled nut 8 carried by the bolt 4 serveseither to expand the hoop 1 by slightly separating the ends thereof, orto hold the said ends apart when they have been separated in the mannerto be described. After the parts have been assembled in the relationshown, the end of the bolt 4 is upset, by swaging or in other suitableways, so as to provide thereon a knob-like stop or anti-disassemblingmeans 9. This anti-disassembling means forms an important part of thepresent invention, for it has been found in practice that one of thegreatest drawbacks to the extended, if not universal, use of adjustableembroidery frames of this character resides in the fact that the parts,where the bolt and nut principle have been employed,

have become easily detached, either carelessly by the user ormischievously by children, with the result, in either case, that partshave become lost or, at least, considerable annoyance has been caused tothe user through having to reassemble the said parts.

The stop makes it practically possible to use the construction shown,which is notable for the fact that the nut need not be used to separatethe ends of the hoop, whiclrmay preferably be accomplished by pinchingbetween the thumb and forefinger of one hand the said stop and thehereinbefore mentioned curved extension 7 of the abutment 6. It will beevident at a glance that this is a great advantage, as it permits theuser to adjust the fabric carefully between the hoops and, byresistingly pressing the said stop and extension 7 together, to hold thesame, with any desired pressure, until the cloth or fabric is in theposition best adapted for working when the nut 8 may be spun to travelalong the threaded member in order to maintain the adjustment.

It will be obvious that the principles of this invention are applicableto embroidery frames wherein the outer ring is the adj 11stable one. Insuch usage the nut would, of curse,be disposed upon the opposite side ofthe abutment member and the whole device would be fastened to the outerside of the outer hoop.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely difiierent embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the above drawings shallbe interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is In an embroidery hoop in combination, a split ring; anabutment attached to one end of said ring and having an aperture; athreaded member attached to the opposite end of said ring and passingfreely through the'aperture in said abutment; a nut engaging the threadsof said threaded member and free to spin and travel thereon into and outof engagement with said abutment, whereby said nut 1s adapted to movesaid abutment in a single direction only and whereby said abutment maybe moved manually independently of said nut; an extension on saidabutment adapted to provide a finger hold; and an enlarged stop on theend of said threaded member tomaintain said threaded -member, said nutand said abutment permanently assembled.

In witness whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERBERT AURELIUS AUSTIN.

l/Vitnesses: I

J. A. LooKwooD, R. W. MALLORY.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

